If you lived inside my head, you would automatically say the above to the tune of "Bob the Builder" - as it is a tune that has been heard several times today, and therefore is on high-rotation repeat. Ah the joys.
I do not have the photos to prove it, but as well as the bumper basil crop I am dealing with here, there is a cayenne bush* that is as prolific.
In search of recipes that use vast quantities of cayenne peppers, I did discover Mom's Cafe Home Cooking, where she tweaked Frank's RedHot Original Cayenne Pepper Sauce Copycat Recipe.
The first time I did this recipe, I used 20 red chillies (I actually harvested over 100 chillies that round - I also made a VERY hot sweet chilli sauce and an unpalatable chilli oil), minced garlic, salt and vinegar - and boiled for about 1.5 hours, so only got a small bottle of intensely concentrated sauce that V declared "as good as Tabasco".
The last harvest that I did yielded 40 chillies, of which only a half dozen were red - so I decided today to try for a "verde" variety.
Per the original instructions, I chopped the stems off - the original called for aged, so the few days on the window sill was "preparation" and not "procrastination"
I put these into a saucepan with a few good pinches of salt, 6 cloves of Australian Garlic ** and as much white vinegar as I had on hand in the kitchen *** - about 3 1/2 cups.
I then brought it to the boil and simmered it for about 45 minutes (as we had someone coming for dinner and I didn't want the gravy getting mixed up with the hot sauce and causing conniptions).
I then chucked it all into the food processor and gave it a good whizz.
Then sieved it and jarred it - voila.
I have had a preliminary tip-of-the-finger-taste-test - It ticks the "blow your cotton socks off" box, but without that "water, water, I need water" finish. The proof, of course, will be in the rate of usage by the V man.
As this is Friday, I am linking this up at Mummy's Undeserved Blessings weekly recipe round up.
So - do you have any good recipes for me to test on the crop next go around?
* To add to the cayenne bush's wonder, it was one of a 50c punnet in the sadly unloved and neglected "take these home or we will turf them" section at the local hardware. I love a bargain that works...
** Australian Garlic (I have to specify, as getting the domestic product is as rare as hens teeth, and unless you find a good farmers market the supermarket believes it is selling you gold). I do believe I have refrained from political rants in the past, and will continue to do so but press the button and I can give you a good garlic diatribe.
*** I could have used my legs and got some more from the laundry - I am a Shannon Lush devotee, and so Bicarb and Vinegar are used in a variety of rooms for a variety of tasks.